There have been quite a lot of indie game releases in 2021. Whether you're a fan of horror, gorgeous visuals, or charming characters, it has been a giving year. So read along, and find what the greatest releases are. Each game on our top ten list has its unique style, and quite a lot of them have an incredible story to tell or an immersive experience to give you. Yet, they'll also work great on modest laptops or Steam Deck. If you are tired of the same old games like FIFA, this is a refreshment you need!
10. Deltarune Chapter 2
Fans of the game have been freaking out
In the second chapter of this RPG, you continue playing as Kris. Alongside Susie, your former bully who has turned into a friend, and Ralsei, a prince of the Dark World, you continue your exploration of the world you fell into in the last chapter. Going through the Dark World, you try to find and seal The Dark Fountains that have been polluting the world, and on the way, you meet many Darkners, some willing to help you and some wanting to fight you.
Out of all the games on the list, this is definitely the most talked-about. Deltarune's fame is so immense it may as well be called notoriety. It's Toby Fox's second game, and while he claims it has no connection to Undertale (his first game), fans of both have plenty of theories on how it all connects. And how wouldn't they? Deltarune has plenty of background characters from Undertale, and the name itself is an anagram of Undertale.
9. Forewarned
Ghost hunting in Egypt
If you have ever played Phasmophobia, you'll be familiar with the basics of this survival co-op. A maximum of four players explore and find evidence of paranormal activity. Only, this time you're not going to visit haunted houses, schools, or prisons. You're exploring long-abandoned pyramids, a maze filled with booby-traps and gold. You need to find out which Pharaoh is entombed and retrieve a relic.
The only problem is, once you take the relic, the ghost of that Pharaoh starts hunting you. Each Pharaoh has unique challenges: one can morph into one of your teammates, some you can't look at directly, or you have to stay quiet. Once this happens, you have to find the lever that opens the exit and get out. One more perk here is that you can either come as a vengeful or helpful mummy to kill your teammates or guide them to safety when you die.
8. Find Yourself
So many jumpscares
From Emika Games comes an indie horror trying to depict living with PTSD. It's filled with loud and overwhelming noises, jumpscares, and terrifying imagery. You start at an abandoned train station, with monsters lurking in the background. You navigate through the rapidly changing environment, constantly questioning if what you're seeing is real or not.
Throughout the game, you piece together your past, finding out the reason behind all your childhood trauma. If you really want, you can spend hours researching the imagery and meaning of every single detail in the environment. You will find how it all carefully ties into the story's events. While the 2010s-esque jumpscares can be a little too much, altogether, this game is quite a treat.
7. Road 96
Roadtrip time
This is one of the games that stands out most on this list. In Road 96, you are a teenager trying to escape your country by hitchhiking. The order of your companions along the road is randomly generated, so you never know which one you're going to get. You are guaranteed one thing, though: each is a wildly compelling character, and you will be sad when you eventually go different ways.
You get to shape your personality on the journey by choosing different dialogue options. Are you motivated by money, practicality, or are you a revolutionary? Also, each character will react differently to you, and depending on your choices, you may learn new skills from them. The art style will leave you breathless, and you'll be wishing you could replay the game as soon as you finish it.
6. Inscryption
Extremely unsettling
As soon as you launch it, Inscryption presents itself as a seemingly simple yet effectively creepy card game. You play against a seemingly omnipotent entity, but you can't see his face. Only its eyes glow from the darkness as it explains to you the rules of the game. The card contest you're playing is incredibly bloody and unsettling, even more so when one of the cards turns out to be omniscient.
Pretty soon, you are requested to stand up from the desk you're playing at, and you get a first look around the cabin. As the game goes on, you can occasionally get up and walk around trying to solve many of its different puzzles. You and the sentient cards help each other to put an end to the mysterious entity, but once you do, you find out that this game is so much more than what meets the eye…
5. Uninvited Guest
Creepy mansion time
In Uninvited Guest, you are a villager who needs money to afford medicine for his ill daughter. Because of this, he accepts a job where he has to go into an abandoned mansion and retrieve a painting. While going through the mansion, you hear whispers, and things seem to be moving when you're not looking at them. You keep finding notes left behind by the mansion's staff, and even later intruders, and begin to piece together that something is incredibly wrong.
This game is incredibly atmospheric, with the environments beautiful to look at. It has some incredibly creepy visuals, and the creatures vary from mildly unsettling to terrifying. The pacing is incredible, and the change of scenery is downright breathtaking. The only thing you might wish from this experience is that it may last longer, but alas, all good games must come to an end.
4. Sable
Sable: further proving that people should regard video games as art
This is definitely one of the most artistically unique indie games out there. You are Sable, a young glider who just departed on her journey away from her clan to find who she wants to be. In an open desert world, you go around on your bike, finding quests and collecting badges for different jobs, so you may choose which one you will settle for.
With beautiful visuals that will shine on your new gaming TV and a calming soundtrack, this game is sure to sweep you away. Character design is incredibly unique, and each one is filled with so much tenderness it may cause tears. This entire game is filled with love, and with a premise of a young person discovering themselves, it's the best choice to sit back and relax.
3. Tormented Souls
Surviving monsters and solving puzzles
Are you a fan of early Resident Evil games? Do you like solving puzzles and uncovering mysteries? If that's the case, Tormented Souls is the perfect game for you! You play as Caroline, and one day, you are delivered a picture on your doorstep. You can see a younger version of yourself next to a girl that looks exactly like you in it. You go to the address that comes with it and arrive at a seemingly abandoned hospital.
However, you're knocked out and wake up in a bathtub, with a tube in your mouth and missing an eye. Gathering yourself, you go around exploring the enormous hospital, where monsters lurk at every corner. As you try to find out how this place connects to your childhood, your only ally is a priest who doesn't appear to see any of the monsters and is walking around carefree.
2. In Sound Mind
Talking cats and great music
You wake up in the middle of your apartment complex's basement, and it appears like the world is ending outside. As you continue through the building, even more things look out of place. You can enter your patients' apartments, even though some of them don't even live on your block. Oh, and your cat talks.
In this first-person psychological horror, you play as Desmond, a troubled psychiatrist who goes around doing mind-bending puzzles. It appears as some sort of demon is stalking you as you go through distinct environments, each representing a particular patient you believed you failed. The game features an incredible original soundtrack written by The Living Tombstone.
1. Lost In Random
Bleak colors and childlike wonder
Even's sister, Odd, is among the randomly chosen kids that get to live in the queen's castle! This would sound great if everyone didn't know that the queen is actually evil. Years ago, she banned all the magical dice except her own from the kingdom of random and closed off all cities so that no one may interact with each other! A year after her sister's kidnapping, a ghost visits Even, and she sets off on an adventure across the Kingdom of Random to save her sister.
With its charming, Burton-esque art style, this game is going to captivate you. It has elements of a card game mixed into its fighting system, giving it a unique playstyle. All the characters, even the narrator, have their own type of charm, and you'll want to do nothing but immerse yourself in this bleak world that is still full of wonder.
Of course, there have been a lot more excellent games released in 2021, like Forza Horizon 5. It has been a giving year, from fun childish games to dark, creepy, and murderous. It's impossible to keep up with everything with so many genres and gameplay styles, though we wish we could. But 2021 has been filled with many one-of-a-kind games, so who can complain?
Do you agree with this top ten order? Are there any other games we missed? Let us know in the comments!
Source: YouTube